Fonzie is another monkey we get to work with. Like his namesake, Fonzie is far too cool to do many of the things Toby does, making him totally different than Toby. While Toby is my baby, Fonzie far prefers my husband, Jim. They're great buddies and work and hang out together.

Today is Jim's birthday, too!!

Happy Birthday, hon. =)

It's interesting to see the different personalities of the monkeys. Like us, they're very distinctive and unique.

Toby is playful and often silly while Fonzie is Mr. Cool. Toby will mind me but Fonzie just looks at me as if to say, "You want me to do what? For you? Dream on, crazy lady."

They say a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but that might not always be true...

Toby LOVES strawberry jam. Adores it. But he's smart.

He's learned that sometimes I'll mix a little bit of medicine in his jam. This is what he thinks of it...

I had to be very persuasive to get him to eat his bread and jam, and even then he wasn't too happy with me. But he got over it and when he was done with that bit, we rewarded him with a bit of good jam.

That's a phrase I find myself saying sometimes--probably because it's been said to me several times. It's a phrase that is relevant to my life.

What's the good in having something if you don't use it?

Exactly. It's not much good at all.

When I was a kid in Ecuador, American candy was an extreme treat. Any time I had some, I kept it in a cute tin my older sister gave me (which I still have--does that tell you anything about me?). I loved it when the tin was full. I would open it, poke through the candy then close it and hide it away again. Rarely did I eat any of the yummies.

I didn't just keep the candy, I hoarded it.

After a long time I decided to eat the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup that was hidden in there, along with a candy cane and several other tasty tidbits.

The peanut butter cup was awful. It was dry and had a funny taste to it. Hoarding it had ruined it. If I had just nibbled away at it--a little bite here and a little bite there, I would've been able to enjoy it, and enjoy it for a long time. But I didn't and it was ruined.

That's a lesson I've had to relearn many times in my life--including just recently.

Over the years I've come to love snapping pictures, and I've taken lots of them. But all too often they sit on my computer or phone, doing nothing but taking up space. In the past couple of months I've gotten involved on Instagram and I have to admit to loving it. It's a place to do something with some of my pictures. A place to share them for no other reason than that they make me smile or I found them interesting.

But Instagram is all about the insta. I still have all the pictures I take with my camera which, in my experience, are not insta. I can't click and post while exploring the creek or standing in line at the grocery store--both of which I tend to do.

So, I've decided to apply what I've learned.

No more hoarding pictures. That means if I have a picture I want to share just because it makes me smile, then I'm gonna post it. Here. On my blog. Even if it's not a real good picture. Even if I have no words to go with it because after all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Being married to a contractor, my life is still full of building things...every aspect of building things, including the demolition part.

We bought this house. Really. It looks good here compared to when we got. Saying this place was gross is an understatement. You know the 10-second rule? It did not apply here. If food hit the floor here it was contaminated with "dirty dirt" and could be brushed or rinsed off and eaten--no matter how hungry you were.

Working together, we gutted it and remodeled the house (and it's neighboring house that was just as bad). It was an education for my kids--one they still talk about. It had a big impact on our family--more than just coining the concept of clean dirt and dirty dirt.

Construction isn't just my husband's occupaton, it's a way of life for our family. It's molded all of us into the people we are today.

So much of life has been taught through one construction project or another. And not just carpentry skills, although all our kids can hold their own on a job. We're talking about life lessons and spiritual lessons--for the kids and for me and my husband.

And at the end of a long hard job...

Our kids learned the value of hard work and team work...and sooooo much more. They saw what can be done to trashed houses...and trashed lives. They had a hands on, graphic example of what God can do.

Toby is shocked that it seems like I've forgotten him. So, he sat me down for a long talk. He can be very persuasive when he wants to be and he convinced me to let him visit on here. He wanted to be here all the time--you know how monkeys can be--but I put my foot down and told him "Maybe on Mondays."

After some dithering and toe picking, he agreed to my terms. Smart monkey.

I reminded him that I said MAYBE on Mondays. He just scrunched his nose and turned away. He knows me entirely too well.

We sealed the deal with a vanilla wafer and a hand shake.

So, here's to Monkey Mondays. A time to share pictures, information, and funnies of my boy. And maybe not just Toby but a few other monkeys I know virtually.

Since Patty quit running from God's call on her life and surrendered her pen to Him, she's been happy. Life is never dull as she juggles being a wife, mom to a handful of kids and a couple of Capuchin monkeys, life on the road, and being a writer. As long as she's obeying God's leading, she figures that sanity is a novelty and not a necessity in the zoo she lives in. Patty clings to the promise that God will enable her to do what He asks of her, otherwise she would be living with the scaredy cats at the Funny Farm and not just occasionally visiting. You can find her on Instagram, too, where she daily sneaks in a few sane moments.